How to Get Out of a Lease?
We recently purchased a house and end up closing on it earlier than expected we still have 4 months on our lease. We were always good tenants never late with the rent or had problems, we left the Apt in good condition and we had all of our stuff out by May 3rd and paid…
We recently purchased a house and end up closing on it earlier than expected we still have 4 months on our lease. We were always good tenants never late with the rent or had problems, we left the Apt in good condition and we had all of our stuff out by May 3rd and paid for May.
The management company has brokers and they are showing it as well as some of my broker friends. The owners are painting the walls, putting a coat on the wood floors and updating the kitchen.
We let know in Feb we were most likely closing on soon but were not sure about the timeline and in mid April we let them know we were moving out to our new house early May.
Our fear is that June 1st comes around and they have neither of us has found a tenant and we have to pay for June rent. We really can not afford this due to just buying a house.
Any suggestions?
Slopegirl, you’re simply wrong. READ YOUR LINK AGAIN.
You cannot sublet an apt in a house/bldg with less than 4 units without the LL’s permission.
A landlord may deny a sublet if he/she thinks you’re not coming back. There is a difference between “subletting” and “assigning”
Leucas,
Your right we have cushion but I would rather not use it to pay into an empty apartment, since there is work we are doing on our property and paying our mortgage and the rest of the utilities and getting a feeling for our monthly payments. That is what I mean by we really cant afford this.
Slopegirl,
Thanks for the info. That is really good news and I am pursuing that.
Thanks to everyone for the comments, very useful.I am sure it will be resolved amicably and soon(fingers crossed)
you are allowed by law to sublet no matter what the lease says. I looked this up when our tenant asked about it.
HERE IS THE INFO I FOUND ONLINE AND SOURCE BELOW:
Any lease provision restricting a tenant’s right to sublease is void as a matter of public policy. If the landlord consents to the sublet, the tenant remains liable to the landlord for the obligations of the lease, including all future rent.
If the landlord denies the sublet on reasonable grounds, the tenant cannot sublet and the landlord is not required to release the tenant from the lease.
If the landlord denies the sublet on unreasonable grounds, the tenant may sublet anyway. If a lawsuit results, the tenant may recover court costs and attorney’s fees if a judge rules that the landlord denied the sublet in bad faith.
source: http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/attygenguide.html#7
I was thinking the same thing. I know ever penny counts but if you’re having issues with liquidity now, wait till your new life as homeowner picks up steam.
this is really stupid by your LL since summer is the best time to rent it out. In September market will be much slower.
(Leucas, thanks for saying that! That was the *first* thing that occurred to me when I read this, and wondered if I was the only one who thought so…)
Who closes on a place and doesn’t have $2K – 3K in padding to pay off a previous apartment’s rent? What’s going to happen if you move into your new place and find you suddenly need $5K in repairs?
I’m not trying to be a smart aleck — how could you possibly buy a place and have so little left over?
serpentor,
I had read this but was not so lucky~!
“Exceptions: if the LL is trying to raise the rent over what you were paying, you just have to find someone willing to take over the lease at your old rent. If the LL rejects them and wants to keep looking for a higher paying tenant, then you are off the hook.”
Check with your lawyer on duty to mitigate. I believe 2nd Department (which covers BK) traditionally held there is a duty, but I don’t know about the Ct. App. decision smeyer is referring to. Could have overturned the rule. Best to get legal advice directly if it matters. Any good local RE atty will know off the top of his/her head. But don’t rely on me — not my area.
Meanwhile, are we only talking about a month here? It may not be practical or cost-effective for LL to pursue it. But this could play out as a deposit dispute. Question may not be whether they sue you for rent but whether they withhold deposit $$ and dare you to sue for it. How desperate are you?